It's A Woman's World!

I told my wife that this week’s column was about a muscular black man, sitting on a white horse wearing nothing but a towel... By the time you read this, my wife will have purchased seven hundred copies of this newspaper.

Seriously though, I want to take a moment to applaud the latest Old Spice commercial from south of the border, courtesy of advertising firm Wieden & Kennedy.

The commercial features a handsome, muscle-clad spokesman, dressed in a bath towel who, in one continuous camera shot, goes from standing in a shower to walking on a boat to sitting on a horse. The spokesman proudly reminds us that while our ‘man’ may not actually be the spokesman, our ‘man’ could at least smell like the spokesman, if he used Old Spice after shave.

One problem. I don’t have a ‘man’. My wife does though.

Wait a minute! Is it possible that Wieden & Kennedy are actually selling a man’s after shave by targeting women?

That’s crazy! But then again, in a world where Kate Gosselin can be featured as a Celebrity on ‘Dancing With the Stars’, anything’s possible.

Actually, there is method to Wieden & Kennedy’s madness.

A recent study conducted in the United States suggests that women are the key decision makers for 81% of all purchases. Another study conducted here in Canada suggests women are responsible for up to 90% of all purchases.

What does this mean?

That men have it 9% better in the United States.

It also means that advertisers need to wake up and recognize it’s a woman’s world when it comes to buying products and services, even the turbo powered, body-odoured, beer-swilling, guy ones.

What Wieden & Kennedy recognize is that, while men may conduct many of the transactions, it’s actually women who have the greatest influence over purchasing decisions, even the purchasing of their ‘man’s’ after shave.

So, Mr. 18 Volt Lithium Powered, Hi Torque Impact Driver Sales Guy, how do you advertise to women? First off, it helps to understand some of the basic scientific differences between men and women.

For example, scientific studies prove women can read facial expressions and body language better than men.

The same studies show the corpus callosum fibres connecting the left and right sides of the brain are more developed in women, contributing to a women’s heightened sense of intuition. Some believe this means women are more responsive to contextual and intuitive marketing than men.

A University of Wisconsin survey concluded that women collect and retain 70% more detail than men.
What does it all mean?

It means that those 1950s commercials depicting women as naive homemakers, caring more about their spaghetti sauce than their finances, may have worked fifty years ago. Today, however, women play a different role. Partly because they are smarter, more independent, and ambitious. Partly because they’ve perfected the art of making spaghetti sauce.

Today’s women have university degrees, control household finances, have successful careers, and have even learned how to run the TV remote control. Maybe they haven’t figured out how to watch seven shows at once, but it’s only a matter of time!

In the end, when it comes to marketing, it’s a women’s world. The winner of the marketing battle is the advertiser who competes on the woman’s side of the battlefield, even if the battle is selling to men.

Win the women, win the war. Just ask my wife... That is, just as soon as she gets back from the store with my new bottle of Old Spice.

Just say “No!”

Ah Spring is almost upon us.

Every Spring, my family participates in an annual event we call ‘Clean Sweep’, a two week festival of Spring house cleaning, culminating in a ceremony known as ‘The Cleaning Out of the Wardrobes’.

‘The Cleaning Out of the Wardrobes’ requires the entire family to dress in floral headgear and perform a ritualistic dance while disposing of virtually every article of clothing we own. The ceremony ends with a drive to the mall to replace the discarded clothes with new clothes, so that we may have something to dispose of at next year’s ceremony.

Following a massive clothing purge last Spring, we all ventured over the bridge to one of the big department stores in town.

After shopping for a while, I began scouring a shelf for a particular shirt in my size. Unable to find it, I looked for help.

I spotted two sales clerks, hiding just a few yards away in men’s underwear. I approached cautiously, careful not to startle them or interrupt their conversation about tongue piercings. But as soon as they saw me, both clerks bolted.

Like a gazelle, one leapt over several racks of clothing escaping into sporting goods. The other, the smaller and weaker of the two, wasn’t as lucky.

Attempting to sprint across to housewares, she found herself cornered and forced to assist me. She did so with the enthusiasm of a child visiting the dentist for a root canal.

Gesturing to the shirt, I asked whether one was available in an extra-large.

“No!” she snapped back, having memorized all three hundred and fifty-seven thousand items in the store’s inventory.

When asked if one might be available somewhere in ‘the back’, the place I’ve come to recognize as a forbidden haven reserved for sales clerks fleeing customers, she snapped me another “No!”, quickly sliding beneath the trouser rack and disappearing into cosmetics.

Welcome to the 21st century shopping experience.

While business owners scan spreadsheets, devising new ways to improve bottom lines, the art of serving the customer is being ignored.

‘Customer satisfaction’ has become the gold standard to which retailers aspire. Some even have an ‘index’ for rating customer satisfaction.

Customer ‘satisfaction’? Seriously?

‘Satisfaction’ is a minimum requirement for doing business. After all, what’s the alternative? Customer dissatisfaction?

Today’s mainstream business culture has become one of mediocrity, where achieving the bare minimum is celebrated and rewarded. As long as the clerk in the clothing store doesn’t follow me to the parking lot and set fire to my car, I should applaud my shopping experience.

Here’s a tip for business owners, forget customer ‘satisfaction’. Strive to thrill your customers with service that exceeds expectation.

Train staff to understand their importance in the sales process. Give them autonomy to make decisions and resolve customer concerns immediately. By default, I’m an advertising advocate, but instead of focusing entirely on your print layouts and radio scripts, invest as much effort in the end of the sales process as the start of it.

My tip this week is to read a book called “Raving Fans” by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles. This book should be mandatory reading for any retail business owner, and his or her staff. I highly suggest you look for a copy at your local book store. If you can’t find one, ask a sales clerk for help.

Just be sure to block their escape routes first.

The Rule of Three

I just came back from a meeting with a client who asked whether or not I could guarantee his new ad campaign would be successful.

There are two ways to answer this question.

The first is to defer.

“Can I guarantee your campaign will be successful? Well, let me put it this way... Oh, is that a photo of your daughter? She’s adorable. Oh, that’s your dalmation? My apologies.”

The other, is to answer the question honestly.

“Can I guarantee your campaign will be successful? No... Oh, is that a photo of your daughter? She’s adorable. Oh, that’s your dalmation? My apologies.”

There are no guarantees in advertising. If there were, the keyholder to the great secrets of producing non-stop, successful advertising would be a multi-gazillionaire and the rest of us marketers would be taking orders for french fries at the local drive-thru.

Advertising is a complex business, where the creation of the product relies on a combination of knowledge, science, experience, art, research, intuition and caffeine. (and sometimes Scotch).

While there are no steadfast rules or sure-fire guarantees in advertising, there are proven tactics to help give your advertising the best possible shot at success.

One of these I call The Rule of Three. Here’s how it works.

Every successful ad should include three things. First, it should have something that makes it stand out from all the rest.

I find a flamingo costume and a foghorn are always effective, but enough about my hobbies, let’s continue on.

Second, an effective ad must have an offer or message that is perceptually equal to or better than the competitor’s.

‘Perceptually’ is the key word here.

Years ago, Vancouver’s Dean Brothers Collision Repair was battling for business in a highly competitive market. At the time, all repair companies offered verbal guarantees to cover their work, though not one promoted the fact.

At the time, our agency handled Dean Brothers, and we came up with the idea of producing a printed version of Dean Brothers’ guarantee and promoting it in their advertising.

While they weren’t alone offering a guarantee, by being the only shop to promote one, Dean Brothers were ‘perceived’ as the only shop in the Lower Mainland to guarantee their work. The campaign was hugely successful and I was treated to all the free frame alignment I could eat.

The third part of The Rule of Three is to ensure that whatever makes an ad stand out also forces recall of the message and the advertiser.

We’ve all, at one time or another, raved about a great TV commercial we’ve seen, only to realize that when reciting it to someone else, we can’t remember who the ad was for.

By tying in the ad’s hook, or creative element directly to the offer and the advertiser, you maximize your advertising dollars and ensure you don’t find yourself spending money on advertising that consumers end up attributing to your competition.

That’s The Rule of Three.

It’s a great guideline to use. Can I guarantee it will work every time? Well, let me put it this way... Oh, is that a photo of your daughter?...

True Patriot Love

Last Sunday, Canada finally introduced its brand to the world. I couldn’t be happier, after all, I do own part of it.

As a teenager, I grew up in London, England where I attended an American International School for a number of years. As a Canadian growing up with Americans in England, all I can say is it’s a good thing we traveled with our own therapist.

One thing I came to understand about Americans and Brits though, is that their brand is clearly defined and they, along with everyone else, get it.

The Canadian brand, on the other hand, (btw, I don’t get paid extra for rhyming) has always been, in my opinion, a brand mis-defined.

My American and British friends always saw me as a bit of an oddity. Sure, my Bay City Rollers pants didn’t help, but what really confused them was what it meant, my being a Canadian.

The best shot they took at understanding the Canadian brand, was to draw an igloo beside the picture of me in my yearbook.

It’s my belief that much of the world has never really understood what the Canadian brand is all about. But is that their fault or ours?

Look at our flag.

The British have the Union Jack. Strong. Bold. United.

The Americans have the Stars & Stripes. Magical. Wondrous. Proud.

The Japanese have the Rising Sun. Majestic. Inspiring. Hopeful.

What do Canadians have? A leaf.

And what of the symbols we use to promote our brand.

Souvenir shops in New York, London or Paris flog bronzed statues of iconic symbols like The Empire State Building, Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower, while Canadian souvenir shops sell maple syrup.

Other countries promote themselves with internationally recognized landmarks. We promote Canada with condiments.

For years, the Canadian brand has been seen by many as symbolizing a nation of polite lumberjacks living on a frozen tundra, whittling canoes, hunting for beaver pelts and filling up on back bacon.

I’m a Canadian, and I can honestly say I’ve never whittled a canoe, I don’t like back bacon and, while I’m on the subject, I’ve never been chased along the Trans Canada Highway by a burly police officer on horseback wearing red surge.

Canada’s lack of a relevant, powerful, well-defined brand has always impeded us from the recognition and respect we deserve on an international stage.

But that all changed for me last Sunday.

I watched the Olympic Games closing ceremonies, grinning from ear-to-ear as huge Royal Canadian Mounted Police piggy banks glided across the floor of BC Place, sharing the stage with twenty foot tall Beavers, oversized table-hockey players and dancers dressed in giant maple leaves. It was all intended to poke fun at the archaic and inaccurate image of the Canadian brand, as perpetuated by politically correct marketers for years.

This Sunday, I believe, Canada shed its skin of obscurity and revealed a new age of the Canadian brand. A brand that is confident and proud, progressive and self-aware. For once we were able to see our brand as others have seen it for so many decades. We finally recognized what we aren’t, and in doing so acknowledged, once and for all, what we are.

Way to go Canada!

I’d write more but I’ve got an igloo to dismantle and a few hundred jugs of maple syrup to list on Ebay. Americans love all that Canadian stuff.